Friend & Foe: A Hew Cullen Mystery: Book 4

By Shirley McKay

PRAISE FOR SHIRLEY McKAY 'Intoxicating mix of dramatic crime and repressed passion' - New Books 'A gripping mystery that holds the reader to the very last page, and a marvellous portrait of St Andrews in the sixteenth century' - John Burnside St Andrews. 1583, and tensions are running high. Dissension rages between King and councillors, and between the separate factions of the Kirk. At St Mary's college, the reformer Andrew Melville is unsettled by a series of unnatural events, while the ailing Archbishop Patrick Adamson plays out his darkest fantasies, in the safe seclusion of the castle vaults. Hew is called to investigate a mysterious incident and finds suspicion falling upon him as he is ensnared in a world of superstition, subterfuge and death. This new Hew Cullan story sees the academic lawyer once again in the company of his sister Meg and her husband, physician Giles Locke, in their most challenging case yet. Alliances are formed; there are old scores to be settled; old ghosts reappear and spies are abroad. The king's escape from captivity throws all in confusion, and as Hew's loves and loyalties are put to the test, his own life and future are no longer secure. Friend & Foe is the fourth Hew Cullan mystery by Shirley McKay. Hue & Cry, Fate & Fortune and Time & Tide are also available from Polygon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Polygon
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9780857901811

Shirley McKay

Shirley McKay was born in Tynemouth but now lives with her family in Fife. At the age of fifteen she won the Young Observer playwriting competition, her play being performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. She went on to study English and Linguistics at the University of St Andrews before attending Durham University for postgraduate study in Romantic and Seventeenth-Century prose. She was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. Shirley works as a freelance proofreader.